The Defeat of Scarblade
by Action is Eloquence
Summary: Scarblade discovers that he's not the best pirate that sails Neopias seas... To his cost.


From a journal of a Maraquan scribe:

_Nineteen years since the destruction of Old Maraqua have passed. The city has been re-made and has grown prosperous again. No pirates have been seen in Maraqua's water's. _

_But not until now._

The Black Spot gained distance as it gained more knots in speed, her owner, Captain Corsairess said that her ship could out-sail any ship on the sea. She was the Captain of a large Corsair ship that was relatively unknown until then.

_But fate was changing with the wind._

The Black Spot's blood-red sails danced ominously with the breeze. The blatant Black spot on each of the sail's meant that they were coming.

_Coming for whom?_

_Coming for Scarblade._

Captain Corsairess, a shadow Lupe, stood in defiance of the breeze as it turned into a gale. Sea-spray splashed her scarlet coat, but the Lupe stood defiant ever still. The Boatswain, a red Kyrii that wore a blue tunic, walked up.

"Cap'n, Sails have been checked. D'ye wants me to send Hercian up the rigging?" the Kyrii asked.

Corsairess nodded looking firmly out to sea.

Hercian, the red Xweetok was sent up the rigging.

"All are Ok. 'Cept the mizzenmast." He said, pointing to the third mast, he swiftly climbed down to get repairing tools. He was there a short time. After he fixed the rigging on the mizzenmast, he looked out to sea. The breeze blew his fur playfully. He saw land in the far distance. The Aisha look-out said,

"Hercian, that there's Krawk Island. We'll be at dock!"

Hercian shouted down,

"Land Ahoy!"

The pirates below whooped and went more to their work. Corsairess went into her cabin.

Inside Slyven, a red Hissi, her navigator, Saker her first mate, a red Kougra, and Tynewan her Eyrie quartermaster were there. Apparently Tynewan and Slyven had been fighting over the quill to mark the course. Saker, being wise, knew that she shouldn't get involved.

The Silence was deadly.

Corsairess said,

"We restock on Krawk Island. Then we go on to this part of Neopia."

Corsairess pointed directly to a group of island north of Lutari Island.

"This part hasn't been discovered or announced as being discovered by anyone brave. We should take this chance, because every-pet knows Corsairs are brave." He laughed.

At sea, The Revenge was waiting, waiting for new ships to plunder.

Benny spied the Black spot.

"New ship to Port!"

Scarblade rushed to the side of his ship. There was a ship, a new ship he hadn't yet plundered. The sails were blood-red, which meant they took no prisoners. But each of the sails had a black spot on each of them. This would have scared any pirate witless. But not him. Ragged pirates stopped their duties to watch their Captain.

They knew what would come next.

"Men, get ready to attack!"

On the Black Spot, Hercian had already seen The Revenge,

"Pirate galleon full ahead!" he shouted down, worried.

The Corsairs waited for Corsairess's instructions.

"Issue everyone onboard another weapon. It's no good turning back now."

They scrambled for Swords, Sabres, and Tridents.

Corsairess then positioned them under shelter, nearest to the sides of the ship.

"We still have the element of surprise. We can still sail on."

Corsairess laid out the battle plans in actions.

As The Revenge drew nearer, Scarblade saw that the ship was as large as The Revenge. It had no seen pets aboard it. The pirates drew closer aside the ship,

"Cap'n, there's none aboard. Shall we board it?" asked a Krawk.

Scarblade's answer was cut short by,

"Attack!"

Every-pet from the Black Spot jumped out of their hiding place and boarded The Revenge. This was un-heard of for the pirates of Scarblade, No Sailors, trader or Pirate had dared to board their ship, The Revenge. The Corsairs were outnumbered by the Pirates but the Corsairs had more tricks and experience to benefit and use. The Pirates had been tricked. Corsairess had been attacking every pet with her twin Sabres. She swung them expertly, dodging most attempts to kill her. The battle was in full flight and it looked like the pirates were winning, but now the tables were turned, the Corsairs had pulled off another trick trapping the remaining pirates. Corsairess spotted Scarblade, her eyes met his, and Scarblade knew this was his enemy.

The Captain of the Corsairs.

Then a memory flashed in his eyes. Blaidd? He now saw that Corsairess had leapt over the group separating them and was making her way towards him. Scarblade made first move and Corsairess easily blocked it. She used her swords to throw Scarblade's right sword into the sea.

"Never known fear have you?" taunted Corsairess.

Scarblade fought on like a demon. When he knew he couldn't win, he gasped in pain. The Captain had sliced his paw with her sabre.

"Had enough yet? Face it, yours is a lost cause. But if you really want to pursue your 'pirate' dreams…."

A quick sword motion which Scarblade thought would finish him, turned out to be a challenge. There on the left sabre was a playing card. Corsairess let it drop, floating to the deck, When it touché the deck a deep bleak fog was pulled over the ship.

"We'll be back." Spoke a disembodied voice that he recognised as Corsairess. When the fog lifted a few minutes later, the Corsairs, and their ship had disappeared. Scarblade bent down to pick the card up. On it was the Ace of Spades. In the right-hand corner neat writing in red ink said,

"The Corsairs are coming."

Scarblade pocketed the card. Then he turned to his beaten, low spirited crew.

"So a ship with less fighters on it, won against The Revenge? Oh how marvellous that's going to look plastered over Krawk Island." He paused. "We will speak nought of this incident hereon."

On the black spot, the mood was electric. The corsairs were dancing and were generally in a happy mood. Except Corsairess,

Inside the cabin, Corsairess called Saker to her,

"That Pirate Captain, he looked familiar. Who is he?" asked Corsairess.

Saker replied, "That would have been Captain Scarblade, who has only lost one battle since today." The ship drew into harbour. It felt like they'd been the heroes of the hour. Corsairess and Saker were wise enough to go disguised, for they knew that the pirates would be out for them. They bought new supplies and loaded them onto the ship. The Corsairs were allowed to run wild until they were setting sail again. In the quieter part of the island, Corsairess reflected on her past. Her sister Flakewhyte was a princess, her mother Blaidd had been a pirate for a time and her father had 'died'. Saker had been her only friend. Now she thought of Captain Scarblade being beaten again by a Lupe almost twenty years younger than him, she considered this to be one of her prized memories. Oh how hard she laughed.

In a sword shop, Scarblade bought a new sword. Since he knew it would have been futile diving down to get it. That Lupe, oh, how he envied her. She had had the skills to down-size him from lord-of-the-seas, to Lord-of-a-puddle. _Corsairs. Huh, what did they know? _He had beaten almost every ship in Neopia, only to fall foul to the last_. Corsairs, they were just pirates really. Except they played by the old rules._ Now he was inside a pub disguised, drinking a mug of grog. Then he heard,

"I heard that Cap'n Scarblade got beaten today. And by Corsairs an' all!" he heard the Mynci laugh at that joke with one of his Gelert friends.

"Captain of the high seas? More like Captain of a puddle!" then they broke up laughing.

Scarblade left his money on the counter and stormed out.

"Strange fellow. Didn't even stop for the news." Spoke the Yurble bar-tender.

Outside, Scarblade hid behind an alleyway, he grabbed a figure he saw was a pirate. Silencing the pet with terror and fear, he growled,

"I want to know were the black spot's been harboured."

The Ixi told him.

"Straight down, near where the Golden Dubloon is,"

Scarblade decided to visit the Corsairs to storm a few things up. Creeping near the Golden Dubloon, he saw the Black Spot. He saw it had been tied to a post. He came closer, to admire it. In Moonlight it looked like a replica of The Revenge, complete with a figure-head. But the figure-head of the revenge wasn't Jhudora. It was well-kept than the Revenge and it smelt of brandy. Scarblade drew closer. He slipped on board when he fought no-one was looking. He was about to let the ship drift by cutting the rope, when,

"Cut that rope and I'll cut your throat."

Scarblade wheeled,

_There was the Lupe. The Lupe captain. _

Corsairess leant on one of her sabres.

"I take it you're the _legendary _Scarblade." Corsairess said, dripping Sarcasm, annoying Scarblade.

"Aye. That's me. So who has defeated me this time?"

"At least it wasn't Maraquans." Teased Corsairess.

Scarblade drew into the shadows.

"You can't hide from a Corsair. We have more tricks than you know of"

Corsairess disappeared and reappeared behind Scarblade,

"Watch your back; you never know who's going to kill you."

Scarblade shivered. That voice was familiar.

"I could kill you, you and your family. Leave me to pirating and I'll keep my word." Scarblade bragged glowering.

"Or what? My father's already dead and my sister's royalty. My mother could beat you in combat any time." replied Corsairess as she faced the pirate.

Scarblade was not one easily scared but this corsair was scaring him witless.

Corsairess drew her sabre again. Again there was the Black spot. He picked up the card then ran of the ship. Back on-board The Revenge Scarblade went about deciphering the message, on it was written,

"The one you took as wife, my mother

Is she.

The Corsair her daughter lives by the sea. The one with the scar, his past Corsairess knows; wherever she goes the Lupe follows." Scarblade pondered.

"Obviously I'm the scarred one, and she is the corsair but who is the one I took as wife? It's too confusing"

He knew that if he didn't figure this soon he'd go mad.

He decided to sleep on it. But sleep was not the best comforter on problems like these. Inside Scarblade's fevered dream he saw the Lupe jump over the group.

As she turned to fight him, the Lupe said "the Corsair knows." Scarblade turned to fight again. She spoke again,

"You nearly killed my mother" then as she flung his sword into the sea she whispered "murderer. I nearly wasn't born because of you." Then a new part came, on The Black Spot, the corsair said,

"I'm the reason you attacked Maraqua." Then she whispered in his ear, from behind him,

"Blood for Blaidd don't you think?" as she ran him through.

Scarblade woke with a start, he realised that he'd fallen onto a sharp corner of a plank of wood. It was morning. Scarblade ran to his chest, and pulled out an old, dusty journal. On the page he opened, it said,

'_Today I acquired the service of Blaidd. She is one of the most beautiful Lupe's I've laid my eye upon.'_

"So, Blaidd was the wife I nearly took." Then he hid the journal again and walked back to Captaincy.

As the Revenge set sail again, Benny spotted a ship on the horizon,

"Warship ahead!" he shouted to Scarblade. Scarblade saw the blood-red sails with their blatant red spots. He was scared, for this was the Corsair ship. The Corsair ship that had defeated him. He pulled out his telescope and saw the captain. Corsairess was standing by the figure head bow looking intently out to sea. Scarblade saw that Corsairess was muttering words under her breath, out of the hull appeared long spear-like hooks. The pirates glanced nervously; _we'll do what we do usually_ thought Scarblade.

"Get ready to attack and kill if necessary."

On the Corsair ship, Corsairess called for Uphelliaa, a fire eyrie. She directed Uphelliaa to where she wanted her to fly. Uphelliaa rose majestically up, like a phoenix she dived at The Revenge, setting some of the ship alight. The pirates scrambled for water,

"Seaskin! Do your thing!"

The green Lutari used his telekinetic powers to move large boulders to crash into the revenge.

"They may have more tricks than us, but we'll show em that Pirates are trickier than Corsairs. Give 'em the sinking feeling!"

As The Revenge began to sink beneath the waves, the Corsairs went wild again.

"I've seen this tactic used before. Sink the ship!" shouted Corsairess

The corsairs thought she was mad, but they agreed.

Underwater the corsair's eyes shone electric blue. Corsairess had given them each an underwater ability and the ability to breathe underwater.

The Revenge saw The Black spot, and then the foes saw each other.

"Attack!" shouted Corsairess. Se had taught her corsairs which were the best tactics to use. She knew what would work and what wouldn't. The pirates attacked head-on, Scarblade's forces ran straight at the Corsairs. The two Lupes saw each other and ran to fight.

"So the lord of the puddle has returned to reclaim his title." mocked Corsairess.

Scarblade had had enough. He attacked Corsairess with his sword. Corsairess blocked his every move. This made Scarblade look less professional and more like a beginner.

Scarblade mocked Corsairess,

"You couldn't hurt a fleaf!"

"Speak for yourself! No wonder Maraqua won against you" replied Corsairess.

Scarblade swung a near deadly blow onto Corsairess.

Corsairess dodged, she cast a magic spell at him to make him mad.

It succeeded, and she called back,

"Blood for Blaidd don't you think?" as she pointed at the cut she'd made. As she attempted to kill Scarblade, she tripped over a rock and fell. Scarblade took the chance and punched her.

Corsairess's head landed on a large rock.

The battle paused.

Scarblade drew nearer to see if Corsairess was dead. But as he approached from behind, He didn't see Corsairess open her eyes slightly. Scarblade drew nearer still, He bent down… Corsairess grabbed her sabres and moved with ethereal speed from under Scarblade and hit Scarblade on his back as he bent over. Corsairess stood over him, and then she kicked him over.

Sabres in both hands, one aimed at his throat. Looking down on him.

"Oh this would have really compensated for the damage you did to my mother. Let's see, I murder you and get the reward money, or I turn you in and let them kill you for me. It's a tough decision but you're going to die anyway. Any last words?" sneered Corsairess.

Scarblade now knew everything. Blaidd had had children, Corsairess and another and she had survived Maraqua's destruction.

Scarblade weakly nodded.

"Blaidd. I'm sorry" he whispered

Calm spread over the battle and over Corsairess. She no longer wanted to kill him. Scarblade saw a face come down from above the sea. But he blacked out before he got to see who it was. Later, Scarblade awoke on the Revenge. Above him were two Lupes and a pair of green Kyrii.

The older Lupe said,

"Will he pull through Gann?"

A green Kyrii turned to her and shook her head.

The Lupe fell by the bed and wept.

"I never knew how much you still like him" said Corsairess in a solemn tone. She saw Scarblade's tail twitch momentarily. She had an idea,

"Mother, why did you like him?" asked Corsairess.

Blaidd sighed,

"It's a long story but I can tell you now you're old enough. I loved him for who Scarblade was as a person, regardless of how he felt about himself. I loved him because he loved me." She dried her eyes and Blaidd rested her head on Scarblade's chest.

"There's a weak pulse. He barely lives."

Scarblade couldn't help himself. He found himself wallowing in pity for Blaidd. He waited for Blaidd to speak again.

"The Cap'n is alright?" asked a pirate Tuskaninny. Grene, the other green Kyrii, got the pirate out of the way.

Scarblade wanted to just tell Blaidd that he still loved her. Blaidd whispered in his ear,

"Did you know that you have two daughters?"

Scarblade heard Blaidd settle down and weep. He said,

"Why are you crying Blaidd?" then as he sat up, leaning on his arm, "Are we upset about anything?" he asked sarcastically. Then Blaidd slapped him on the face.

"You idiot! You had us believe that you were dead? You are evil, You…" Blaidd was stopped by a kiss from Scarblade.

"Well don't judge me before you know me. I still love you Blaidd"

Now she said quietly,

"And I love you too…"

That evening, Blaidd helped Scarblade dress his wound on his paw.

"So how did you escape from the whirlpool?" asked Scarblade.

"I stayed by a rock, then a surge of water pushed me up to the surface. A boat was there with an Ixi and a Usul. They helped me get ashore."

Scarblade looked thoughtfully.

"Maybe this Ixi was a ghost?"

"No. He was yellow and wore a bandana"

Scarblade winced in pain as Blaidd touched his paw, as he sat on his bunk.

"Why did you betray me by going to Maraqua?"

Blaidd sighed quietly and looked at his paw.

"What did you think? You thought I'd betrayed you. Instead you were too blind too see that I was going for help. I'd got to the city gates when you made that whirlpool. So you betrayed me." Explained Blaidd, looking away. Scarblade put his uninjured paw on Blaidd's shoulder,

"I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have been too hasty"

"Do I hear regret in your voice? I thought I'd never see the day." teased Corsairess.

Scarblade gave her a dirty look.

"Don't give her dirty looks like that! She is your daughter after all." Scolded Blaidd. Scarblade hung his head in shame,

"Now don't do that.. I didn't mean to shout like that" said Blaidd.

"Have you seen what she's done to me?" Scarblade held up his injured paw.

Blaidd lifted an eyebrow. Then they laughed together. Corsairess left the room momentarily.

The pirates outside asked,

"Is the Cap'n all-right?"

"Scarblade's … alive and he's in relatively good health. But he's gone weird. Scarblade's…"

Corsairess paused. "In love. With the Lupes you all saw earlier. My mother. He might give up piracy. I ain't saying aye or nay just yet, but it could be."

A door opened, light threw a shadow onto the floor. It was Scarblade! Then the figure stepped out. It was Blaidd wearing Scarblade's hat and coat.

"Not easy to tell the difference is it?" laughed Blaidd.

Then Scarblade came from behind her.

"Yes, it isn't easy to tell the difference. You could mistake Blaidd for ,me." Laughed Scarblade putting his paw on Blaidd's shoulder.

"But that doesn't mean I'm giving up Piracy!" Scarblade growled glowering in a different tone.

Blaidd rolled her eyes.

"You know this might make other pirates think that you're weak." She whispered.

"Who says I'm weak?" demanded Scarblade looking around at the pirates. The pirates shuffled from paw to paw. Corsairess spoke next,

"I don't … Dad"

The end.

But not of Piracy.


End file.
